Manhattan Toby's Public House Faces Hiccup with SLA

The plywood is down at the forthcoming location of Toby's Public House in Nolita, but according to a meeting with the State Liquor Authority yesterday, the restaurant still has some major hurdles to overcome. The Brooklyn bar and restaurant announced plans to expand to 86 Kenmare, formerly Village Tart, earlier this year, and first put signage up this summer. After some contentious face-offs with the local community board, Toby's finally had a hearing with the SLA.

A local resident tells Eater that the 86 Kenmare Tenants Association and the Friends of Petrosino Square appeared at the meeting to contest the restaurant's liquor license, arriving with 22 signatures from the 27 residential units. They made mention that the restaurant is located in the same building as "problematic" club Kenmare and just a block away from NIMBY favorite La Esquina. SLA chair Dennis Rosen cited Community Board 2's 40 - 0 vote against the restaurant earlier as he reportedly denied the application. It's unclear at this point what Toby's next course of action is, but perhaps they will have to abandon the idea of full liquor and a 4 AM closing time. The SLA site has yet to be updated to show the license's status.
· CB2 Denies Ten Degrees, Toby's Public, Approves Wren [~ENY~]
· All Coverage of Toby's Public House [~ENY~]